The collector coin minted in proof quality is packaged in a fine gift package that tells a story of the coin.

Having left to become an apprentice in St Petersburg at the age of just 13, Henrik Wigström (1862-1923) was Fabergé's head workmaster for 15 years until the Russian revolution forced Fabergé to shut down its workshops.

To this day, Finns have been able to enjoy the master craft of Wigström's contemporary goldsmiths. This is all thanks to the fact that after the Russian revolution, the Finnish goldsmiths returned to their country of birth, in turn conveying their skills to new generations of craftsmen. At that time, 20 per cent of all goldsmiths working in St Petersburg were Finnish.

An Imperial collector coin

Mint of Finland's Fabergé coin depicts the famous Easter eggs made by Wigström for the Russian Tsar and his wife.

The obverse side of the goldsmiths' coin depicts an unfinished Easter egg and a graver. The collector coin is a souvenir of the "Coronation" Easter egg, a gift by Nicholas II to his consort Empress Aleksandra Feodorovna on Easter 13 April 1897. Henrik Wigström was responsible for the production of the egg and his signature on the inside of the shell bears testimony to this.

The reverse side of the collector coin depicts a swan, in homage to another example of Wigström's exquisite workmanship, the "Swan" Easter egg. The surprise within the egg is a swan made of platinum, gold and prescious stones, swimming on a lake of aquamarine.

The collector coin has been designed by sculptor Pertti Mäkinen, who also designed the national side of the Finnish one-euro coin.

A part of a European coin collection

The 'Henrik Wigström and European artists' collector coin is Finland's contribution to the European Silver Star collector coin programme organized by mints around Europe. Since 2004, several European countries have participated in the programme by issuing coins under a unified theme.